Eaton County, MI — It was announced this week that the officer who shot and killed 17-year-old Deven Guilford for flexing his rights this past February, will not be charged for any crimes.

Deven was traveling along the road and flashed his lights at an officer because his headlights were so bright that they nearly made Deven run off the road. He was then pulled over by Sgt. Frost of the Eaton County Sheriff’s Office, who stopped the young man for no other reason than the fact that he flashed his lights.

When Frost approached the car, Guilford explained that he was simply flashing his lights to be a polite driver, and let the officer know that his high beams were on so he didn’t cause an accident.

The officer began to get aggressive with Guilford when he was not immediately obedient and attempted to flex his rights during the traffic stop. Guilford refused to show the officer his license and registration because he had broken no laws and the officer had no reason to stop him.

Guilford also began recording the encounter with his cell phone and let the officer know that he was filming for his own safety. He then asked the officer if he was being detained and for what reason. He was told that he was being detained because he refused to comply with Frost and show him his ID. However, not showing his ID is a secondary offense, meaning the officer would actually need a real reason to pull him over to begin with.

On a power trip, Frost violently ripped Guilford out of the vehicle and forced him down to the ground. Guilford attempted to remain filming while he complied with the officer’s orders and moved to the ground. Sadly, Guilford was not moving fast enough for Frost, so he tased the young boy. At this time, both the body camera and the cell phone footage got cut off.

Off camera, Frost shot and killed the young boy. The known details are sparse because the killing happened out of the view of the dash-cam, and the body camera was turned off at that point. However, the officer claims that the young boy attacked him, so he “feared for his life” and killed him, firing 7 shots from his weapon.

“There was no reason or necessity for the officer to physically remove our son from the car without considering other options to avoid an unnecessary violent escalation. It must be also noted that Deven was not in possession (of) any weapon and emphatically told the officer that he was not armed. We also have serious concerns about whether the officer used unreasonable force against Deven under the circumstances.”

It amazes me that when this type of police shooting gets a white man or woman killed the media doesn’t seem to care one lick. But when it is a black man or woman it is all over CNN and other news outlets 24/7 for days or even weeks until another one occurs. If it wasn’t for The Daily Show host Trevor Noah mentioning the shooting in Fresno I never would have seen that story or this one either. I’m not saying that violence against one group is less heinous than violence against another, I am simply stating that our national media outlets are obviously biased and must take ownership of their own responsibility for the division that is occurring in our society today. As Americans we are not perfect, but our media should be unbiased and address each incident equally, but that is not what is happening. So much time and effort are expended making certain that this ‘racial’ divide continues. If we as Americans could just step back for a minute and realize that the perpetuation of this hatred will ultimately lead to the destruction of our country then maybe just maybe we might have a chance to thwart that undeniable future.

JessicaT

I will

Jon Emeigh

While flashing headlights, even as an attempt to communicate to another vehicle that their brights are on, is illegal in Michigan, the officer never told him that. He escalated the situation, not de-escalated it, by demanding obedience and respect without first explaining himself.

A cop is not allowed to just pull you over on a whim without a valid reason to do so, and you are not required to provide him with your ID unless he first explains to you the offense you have committed.

I’ve been pulled over about a dozen times in my life. The first question I always ask is what the offense was that I was supposed to have committed. Even when I know what that offense was, I still ask that question, and will not turn over my ID until the officer answers the question.

Now- the driver was belligerent…that is true. And once it got to a certain level, discretion was the better part of valor. The conversation was being recorded, so he’d have that evidence.

But the officer could have worked to defuse the situation as opposed to deliberately escalating it.

ChampIsHere

So you’re in agreement with the black lives matter movement that we need better policing?

Nice!

Jason Strong

I completely support the officer’s right to defend his own life. What I do not support, is the officer’s actions that created the situation where it became necessary to fire his weapon.

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